President Trump on Friday offered his most robust public case for the border wall since the partial government shutdown began two weeks ago, expounding for an hour at the White House about the need for a barrier to keep out terrorists and dissuade migrants while asserting he has the legal authority to build it without congressional consent.
In a forceful but meandering performance that included numerous false or questionable assertions, Trump announced he was considering declaring a “national emergency” to move forward on construction through executive power; argued his administration would use eminent domain to obtain private land along the U.S.-Mexico border; and suggested a steel wall could provide manufacturing jobs to U.S. companies.
Yet legal experts said Trump’s emergency powers under federal law are limited and expressed doubt that such an avenue would solve a mounting political dilemma for a president who, two years into his term, has elevated the fight over the wall into a defining moment for his presidency.
“I can do it if I want — absolutely,” Trump said of his ability to invoke emergency powers to build the wall. “We can call a national emergency because of the security of our country. We can call a national emergency and build it very quickly. But if we can do it through a negotiated process, we’re giving it a shot.”
Trump is facing mounting pressure from his conservative base to deliver a win at a moment when House Democrats with newfound powers are expected to launch investigations into the president’s policies and personal finances. With Democrats beginning to declare their candidacies for the White House in 2020 and some prominent Republicans ramping up criticism of him, Trump is determined to hold out in the shutdown fight, aides said.
“It’s resonating with our base for sure,” said Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), a Trump ally. “This is not really about immigration now. The people who elected Trump believe the wall is a foundation of border security. It’s a statement about sovereignty. When they’re told by the people they hate that this makes no sense, it makes them more determined to get the wall.”
But Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, accused Trump of considering an “unwise, weak and irresponsible legal gimmick” that would divert “substantial resources” from the military to build a wall.
“By abusing this authority, President Trump would be saying that he does not actually believe all money he requests for our country’s defense is needed for legitimate national security purposes,” Smith said. “That would raise major questions about his credibility when he requests his next defense budget from Congress.”
With a shutdown that has furloughed 800,000 federal workers entering its third week, Trump was repeatedly challenged by journalists at the Rose Garden news conference over his hard-line strategy to force a shutdown over $5 billion for a wall he once promised Mexico would pay for. Democrats have said they will not budge from the $1.3 billion in funding for border security resources that would not include a wall.
He repeated false claims that a renegotiated U.S. trade deal with Mexico and Canada would provide new revenue to reimburse taxpayers — even though that deal still requires congressional approval to go into effect and any new revenue would benefit private companies.
“I view that as absolutely Mexico is paying for the wall,” Trump declared.
The news conference came after Trump and Republican leaders met privately with Democrats at the White House in a fruitless attempt to bridge the funding impasse. Flanked by Vice President Pence, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, Trump attempted to present a united front, though Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) had departed after the meeting.
Inside the White House, there had been growing frustration that Trump — who canceled a holiday vacation at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and remained in Washington — was not making an expansive public case for the wall.
Some aides explained the relative silence as a factor of the White House clearing out for the holidays — a virtual “ghost town,” one said, without enough staffers to convene meetings or plan speeches. Trump scuttled a tentatively planned trip to the border, according to two senior administration officials. All spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal White House observations.
The president told aides he was winning the shutdown politics. But one aide described him as “incredibly sensitive to negative press . . . He’ll be willing to hold out as long as he’s not getting crushed.”
On Thursday, as cable news stations offered blanket coverage of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) being sworn in as speaker of the House, Trump made his first-ever appearance in the White House briefing room, joining several Border Patrol agents who support the wall.
“I have not seen him this resolved on any issue for his entire two years of his administration,” said Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), a top Trump ally. “He’s promised this to his constituency, he believes this is the issue that fundamentally made him win, and he’s waited two years to get this done.”
The setting in the Rose Garden was reminiscent of President Barack Obama’s announcement in the same location in June 2012 that he was using executive authority to create a deferred action program to shield hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants from deportation.
But while Obama used uplifting rhetoric to paint the immigrants as hard-working strivers, Trump employed foreboding language to warn of terrorists and immigrants intent on exploiting the U.S. immigration system — even though the Department of Homeland Security has not disclosed any evidence that terrorists have been apprehended at the southern border.
Just weeks after two immigrant children died while in DHS custody after crossing the border without authorization, Trump, who over the weekend used Twitter to blame the deaths on Democrats, argued that a border wall would deter migrant families from making a treacherous journey to the U.S. border.
“We have to take care of these children. We can’t let them die on the way up,” he said. “What’s happening to the women in those caravans — it’s horrible what’s happening.”
If the women and children “know they can’t get through because we have a great border wall or fence or barrier, they’re not going to come up and you’re not going to have the problem,” Trump added. Yet a surge of immigrant families in recent years has been driven by those aiming to surrender to authorities in hopes of winning asylum protections.
Trump also asserted that past presidents told him they should have built the wall, but he did not offer details. Three of the living former presidents are Democrats, and Republican George W. Bush supported unsuccessful comprehensive immigration reform legislation that would have provided a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants.
The White House had signaled in mid-December that it would support a short-term continuing resolution to keep the government open until early February. But Trump reversed course after criticism from influential conservatives in Congress and talk show hosts who chastised him for backing away from his long-standing threats to close the government over the wall funding.
In the Rose Garden, Trump confirmed reports that he warned Democrats the shutdown could last months or even years, though he said he hoped it would not last more than a few days. He professed to be “very proud” of his strategy.
Trump aimed to create a sense that his administration was moving forward, declaring that it has built “a lot of miles of wall already” — even though DHS officials said recently they have replaced dozens of miles of aging structures but have not built any new barriers since Trump took office.
Warning that gangs or other unauthorized immigrants would breach any gaps, Trump concluded: “We cannot let that happen.”
MAGA!! ??????
Dave Lansing as a history teacher how do you view all of this? Have we learned nothing from the history or building walls?
Oceans are wide open!
Ocean County Scanner News, so your sayin if we have a wall we can direct all our resources to just watching the ocean?
?
That’s what we have a Coast Guard for right?
Yah!
BUILD THAT WALL!
Terrorists don’t come in through the Mexican border they are either born here or fly in. As of 2017 right wing terrorists committed 47% of murders. While Islamic had 53% which was ballooned by the Orlando shooting and he was still born in America.
https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2017/aug/16/look-data-domestic-terrorism-and-whos-behind-it/
Just do it!
Then do it, and stop holding government employees jobs hostage. You can’t blame other people for not giving you what you want when you openly admit there are other legal ways for you to get it without them.
Wht do we think the wall will accomplish? Do they think people will just give up and stop coming here? Drugs won’t exist?
It’s to make people come here legally it’s not we don’t want people here it’s that we want them to do it legally and what’s a wall with limited access it will make America great again
Maura Lee
https://youtu.be/nFOpGb5wbgM
https://youtu.be/OKmyIJB1Wcc
David Meyer I just think if people want to come here illegally they probably will find another way.
Maura Lee so do nothing???
Mary Gartland Hoffman we don’t do nothing now. We have border security, it just seems like a waste of 5 billion dollars to me.
My family came by sea, maybe they should build a net…lol
Maura Lee Don’t you think your tax dollars are wasted on immigrants living here illegally when you and I have to work to live here?
And we give 12 billion 12 billion in foreign aid but can’t spend 0 to protect our borders and build a wall?
Maura Lee Don’t you think your tax dollars are wasted on immigrants living here illegally when you and I have to work to live here?
And we give 12 billion 12 billion in foreign aid but can’t spend 0 to protect our borders and build a wall?
Maura Lee they already do. Most illegal immigrants are here because of VISA OVERSTAYS , not illegally crossing our southern border. And most illegal drugs come through our ports of entry, not the miles of “unprotected” border. Trump is lying about this just like he lies about everything.
Maura Lee they already do. Most illegal immigrants are here because of VISA OVERSTAYS , not illegally crossing our southern border. And most illegal drugs come through our ports of entry, not the miles of “unprotected” border. Trump is lying about this just like he lies about everything.
Maura Lee Pelosi introduced the Democratic spending bill. Billions on foreign aid, $0 on our border security. Now THAT’S a waste of billions, in my opinion. We want America to come first!
Maura Lee Pelosi introduced the Democratic spending bill. Billions on foreign aid, $0 on our border security. Now THAT’S a waste of billions, in my opinion. We want America to come first!
Deb Sikorski LeNoir I thought there were provisions in there for border security
Mary Gartland Hoffman hey….how about more border security???? How about finding a better way to control who gets in and who doesn’t? A 5 billion dollar wall is not going to stop them! And why are people so willing to spend our money on this wall when he said and I quote, “Mexico is going to pay for that wall”???? Why isn’t he being called out on a broken campaign promise by our Republican citizens?
Ginger Metzner because hes still trying to make it happen. Those of us that hired him are grateful hes kept his campaign promises. He’s not funneling millions, & even billions, to foreign countries: finally, America comes first.
Deb Sikorski LeNoir he’s not keeping his promise regarding the wall…..5 billion tax dollars is a lot of money. And now, federal workers are not going to be paid because he’s not getting his way!
Would you rather continue to pay well over 5 billion each year for all the illegal aliens? The drugs? We need security. We deserve secure borders. Have a nice night.
Deb Sikorski LeNoir He hasn’t kept his campaign promise. He stated that Mexico would pay.
Deb Sikorski LeNoir do you actually think the cartels are bringing drugs into this country on the backs of people walking to our border? You’ve got to be kidding me….they have more ways of getting it here via airplanes and ships.
Love this guy. He is willing to do anything for our safety and future success
Dan Feimer
Hahahahahaha these comments..I’m sure if you seen trump in person, you’d get down on two knees
Trump has dementia. He is allowing Putin to whisper in his ear and it is destroying our country, plus the fact that he is a co conspirator. He is a con and people eat his lies like it’s nothing. The farmers are screwed, the federal employee’s are screwed and people have mortgage’s. It’s not a emergency? It has nothing to do with national security. Then again we are the most hated country under him and we have very few friends. If he is really serious then he should talk guns and better background checks. Its not mexicans doing gbese mass shooting or committing the majority of these crimes. Its us. We Americans are screwing ourselves.
Tamara Williams obviously you are on the lower end of the education scale, with great knowledge from the MSN. In other words, a complete tool.
Donna Fusilli Hack Attack just like that ignoramus President. Words don’t mean anything to me and you show just how low you are by attacking. Lol I’m better than good.
Tamara Williams now you’re screwed go jump off a bridge
Robert Fecanin You jump first.
Tamara Williams so take the front door of your house or whatever you live in and let anybody in there brother come traipsing through because that’s exactly what’s happening at the border where there is no wall or fence or whatever you want to call it and all of the border and ice agents must be lying. But it was OK when Obama was president and Schumer and Pelosi intothousand andsix and 2013 thought it was a great idea.
I think what Tamara is saying is screw all ethnic people who are coming here legally. She will pay room ,board and living expenses for all who come here illegally. She will make sure she houses them as to check for non inoculated people aren’t sick, carrying and correcting any carriers or ilnesses.She will make sure they do not take it abuse the system. As well as they don’t send their money back to Mexico or other countries they are coming from . She will take responsibility of vetting and be responsible for any criminal activity they may commit. In payer she will apologize to those in line being lawful as well as our ancestors who came here legally who are turning over in their grave for all they went thru, including during and being sent back when sick. And etc…….
I say do it
Didn’t some shmuck just raise millions for this cheetos wall??
Christine Shecton That “shmuck” happens to be a veteran who fought for our freedoms & lost three limbs during his service.
Well it was a shmuck move then ?♀️ that better for ya?
Actually, yes. You don’t have to agree with his cause, but our veterans (especially the wounded) should be respected.
Build the wall! And for those commenting against it, go live on the other side when it’s complete!
It’s the town’s decided to build walls around your school to protect your children would you stop them?
https://www.gofundme.com/TheTrumpWall?fbclid=IwAR3Eg9tEMi825A3YfTgzuvKiHVsS19HLCGhqG0kSTqM-GuMYrbgTKa2yAK8
If that’s the case that he can do it if wants then why hasn’t he done it already? Everything out of his mouth is lies and I’m dumbfounded how many intelligent people believe anything he says.
Thought mexico was paying for this so why are we being held hostage?
There was never any way for Trump to force Mexico to build and pay for this ridiculous wall! Now federal employees are not going to be paid and Trump seems to think they won’t mind because they are behind him and his wall….how absurd! Yeah….just what an employee wants…to work and not get paid, to work and not pay bills owed…to work and not be able to put food on their children’s table…yeah….they are willing to risk it all so Trump can get his wall! Delusional!
Hillary LOST ! Get over it and move on.
The only people who continue to bring up Hillary are the Republicans and you must be one of them! Have you asked yourself why your leader isn’t making Mexico pay for the wall like he promised during his campaign? Funny how acceptable this is and how willing you are ready to hand over your tax dollars, 5 billion to be exact, for a wall that’s not going to work! Don’t kid yourself, they will find another way. The Mexican/US border isn’t the only way illegals get into this country. They also fly here and over-stay their visas….no wall is going to fix that!
Have you asked YOUR leader . . . wait – you’re a Liberal and have no real leader or, apparently, any morals. Suck it up snowflake –
DO IT!
#BuildTheWall
Good for him!
Psycho dictator
Nope